I intend to purchase a bow mount trolling motor and am undecided on whether to purchase a cable steer or electric steer. How do I decide? Thanks.
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I intend to purchase a bow mount trolling motor and am undecided on whether to purchase a cable steer or electric steer. How do I decide? Thanks.
All depends on how your gonna fish? If brushpiles go cable, Trolling go electric I Pilot.
Wilbur's right .... if instant direction change is needed, then get cable steer.
... cp :cool:
I fish brush piles, so I guess it's cable steer. In regards to Minn Kota, is the Edge adequate, or should I get a Maxxum, or spend more and get a Fortrex? What features do the higher priced ones have to make them worth the extra money?Quote:
Originally Posted by wilbur
some times bigger is better. have had auto pilot that quit on me, control relays burned out on first on. new boat has maxxum, which is going great. 24 volt size. alot has to do with how and where you are fishing. more power for windy days has helped. cable seems to be less noisey. also boat size affects size and type. hope this helps
My boat is an aluminum 18' Lund (755#) plus ~250# Honda tiller motor plus a couple fishermen, gas, batteries, and gear. Fishing is mainly over brush piles.Quote:
Originally Posted by michael16125
16 ft lowe, 25 hp evinrude, 17 gal livewell, 9gal gas, two batts, 2,3 people. 40 pd. thrust, 12 volt minn kota. moved boat ok on a moderate day, windy day was harder. electric steer or auto pilot.
I would want a 24 vold motor on that Lund. I owned a 17' Lund in the past and staing in one spot can be tough on breezy days so you will want the extra power when you need it. Ihave a 5 ear old Maxxum on my current boat and I have gotten my money out of it and I fish at least 2-3 days a week with zero issues out of the unit. Response is better and smoother than the comparable Edge if you spend a lot of time on the water you will notice this. If you only fish once a week or so the Edge's price difference may be worth it.Quote:
Originally Posted by goose
My old legs prefer the electric steering.
The ipilot has anchor lock or whatever its called, a nice feature that would be useful in holding off from structure. I had a MG cable control for 8 years, and never bothered me when trolling. Now I have a Terrova with Ipilot, electric steer is nice and takes some getting use to, but worth the $$ for me as I longline 99% of the time, don't do the the hanging over brush piles version.
You can't fish pier pilings or standing timber with an electric steer motor very well because you can't turn quick enough to keep from getting hung up when the wind shifts you around. They work extremely well in open water. When single poling, they work ok, but you have to learn to anticipate your position before you move because they take more time to turn. The wind makes it harder to stay in one place with the electric steering models, in cover or on brush, because its much slower to turn than a cable steer model. The spot lock is nice, but it only holds you within 5' of the spot, and in cover thats way to far. The ideal situation would be to have one of each on a removable bracket to allow for the best of all situations.
The Minn Kota Edge is a 5 speed, entry level motor. The Maxxums and Fortrexs are variable speed models, and are stouter made. Besides the motor bracket, and the US Sonar on the Fortrex, the Maxxum and the Fortrex work about the same. They are both nice motors, and they work great in cover as well as open water, you just can't leave them when you catch a fish, or fight the wind.
I have a Terrova 80# with Ipilot, but I spider rig, and pull cranks or jigs most of the time. I still want to have both tho. Even when spider rigging cover or brush piles in the wind, the cable steer would be nice. It would allow me to turn faster and stay off of the cover. The Auto Pilot motors are the stuff when pulling, but they lack the agility and finesse of the cable steer models. JMHO.
BRM
I think the Edge only comes in 5 speed...
Variable speed in a cable steer is very advantageous for fishing brushpiles...
Therefore... Maxxum or Fortrex
Rickie
I-pilot has autopilot,spot lock and cruise control.
big river said it best, for the price difference get ya a maxxum, and go fishin.
Unfortunately, they both have their plus and minuses in specific modes of fishing. I'd love to have a cable steer motor fishing a brushpile, but the I-pilot motor fits me better. With a cable steer motor and some wind or current, you can't take your eyes off the motor for a second or you moved way off. With my I-pilot I can hit the spot lock mode and tie a jig on on, or do anything else that needs some concentration and not worry about boat position. Same thing with the auto pilot mode. Heading to another brush pile, I can point it and go. Eat my sandwich, change jigs whatever. But if you need to hold an exact position, you won't beat a cable steer if you stay on it.
I have an I piolit, 24volt, on a tracker, use to have a bit of trouble arround timber,bridge piers, but the more I use it the better I am getting, and now no problems arround trees, stumps, brush piles, all is good, it's like anything you get new, takes a bit of using to learn, I would never want to go back to cable steer, not saying I will not, just dont see on in my near future